Batch records for pickled and acidified foods
What batch records must I keep for the acidified foods I sell in Arkansas?
- Assign the batch a unique number before you jar it
- Write the recipe used and where the recipe came from
- Record the pH meter reading or the approved-recipe source for the batch
- Record the date the batch was prepared
- Match the batch number on the label to the notebook entry
- Keep the notebook for as long as you sell, and then some
Four entries per batch, and one number on the jar
Each batch of acidified vegetables needs four records: the batch number, the recipe used, the source of the recipe or the pH as measured with a calibrated meter, and the date the batch was prepared.
The jar carries a fifth piece: the same batch number, printed on the label. The number on the jar is what ties the notebook to the product a customer holds, and without it the records cannot answer the only question anyone will ever ask about a batch.
The requirement is Arkansas Code § 20-57-503(5)(B), the same subsection that conditions acidified vegetables on the 4.6-or-lower equilibrium pH. The records are not a separate rule bolted on; they are half of the bargain that lets pickles onto the exempt side at all.
4 records entriesArkansas Code § 20-57-503 requires acidified producers to maintain records including the batch number, the recipe used, its source or testing results, and the date prepared. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29
The Arkansas Department of Health requires each acidified product to be labeled with a unique batch number and the producer to maintain the four required records. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29
One worked batch, written out
A batch log is easiest to keep when it looks like the entries it holds. Here is one worked entry, in the order the law lists the items.
Batch number: 2026-041, assigned before jarring. Recipe: dill pickle spears, recipe card 7, version 3, from the National Center for Home Food Preservation's general pickling guidance. Source: ADH-approved recipe, no meter needed for this batch. Date prepared: the Saturday the jars were filled and processed.
A meter-tested batch swaps the third line: recipe card 7, version 3, own recipe, equilibrium pH 4.3 measured on a calibrated meter, meter calibrated the same morning. The reading is the record, so the entry names the calibration, per the pH testing page.
| Required entry | Example value |
|---|---|
| Batch number | 2026-041 |
| Recipe used | Recipe card 7, version 3 |
| Recipe source or pH | NCHFP general pickling guidance, ADH-approved |
| Date prepared | 2026-04-12 |
The Arkansas Department of Health's guide links approved recipes obtained from the National Center for Home Food Preservation, which are laboratory tested and produce safe products when followed. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29
Assigning batch numbers that survive questions
The law asks for a unique number per batch. Unique means the number maps to exactly one batch, one date, one recipe run, and never to two.
A year-and-sequence format does that work: 2026-041 is the 41st batch of 2026. It survives a market question, a phone call six months later and a notebook that has since filled up, because the number alone tells you which page to open.
Two rules keep it honest. Never reuse a number, even for a re-run of the same recipe on the same day, because the second run is a second batch. And when you split a batch across two processings, because the canner only holds seven jars, record both runs under numbers of their own.
unique batch numberArkansas Code § 20-57-503 requires the batch to be labelled with a unique number and the producer to maintain records that include the batch number. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29
What a deviation is, and what it costs you
A deviation is any change to the tested process: more garlic, less vinegar, a different cucumber size, a longer hold before processing. The approved recipe covered the process you followed, not the one you meant to follow.
The Department's guide is explicit about the cost: deviations to tested recipes require further product testing, using either a laboratory or a calibrated pH meter, prior to sale. A deviated batch without a fresh reading or a new approved recipe is not sellable, whatever the notebook says about last month's version.
So the notebook earns its keep at the moment of temptation. The entry that names recipe card 7, version 3 is the entry that tells you version 4 needs its own reading before the first jar is priced.
The Arkansas Department of Health states that deviations to tested recipes will require further product testing using either a laboratory or calibrated pH meter prior to sale. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture lists the required acidified records as batch number and date, recipe used, recipe source, and pH testing results. — University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture (FSPPC318, May 2026), retrieved 2026-09-29
How long to keep the notebook
Arkansas law does not set a retention period for these records, so the honest answer is a business decision you make once, in writing, not a statute you can look up.
The standard the food industry uses is tied to shelf life and trace-back: long enough to trace every jar you sold. A shelf-stable pickle has a shelf life of a year or more, so a producer who keeps records for the life of the batch plus a year has a trace-back that reaches every jar in circulation.
Keep paper, or keep a spreadsheet with a dated print ritual, but keep something that survives a dropped laptop. The records that matter are the ones you can still read on the worst day, and the worst day is the one where a customer asks what was in batch 2026-041.
no statutory retention periodArkansas's Food Freedom Act and the Department of Health's guide require acidified batch records without specifying a retention period. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29
Records and the buyer-facing label together
The batch record and the label are one system, front and back. The label answers the buyer's questions in the hand, and the notebook answers everyone else's questions later.
The label side carries the five disclosures, the batch number among them when the product is acidified, per the labeling page. The record side holds the recipe, the source, the reading and the date.
Together they cover the only scenarios that ever reach a producer: a market inspector asking where a jar came from, a store asking which batch to pull, and a customer asking whether the allergen statement still matches the recipe. Write both for the day someone asks, because that day is the day the records are worth more than the jars.
The Arkansas Department of Health requires acidified products to be labeled with a unique batch number and to carry the Food Freedom Act disclosures. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29
Questions
Do I need batch records for baked goods too?
No. The record requirement attaches to pickled cucumbers and other acidified vegetables, the conditional category. Baked goods and other plainly non-TCS foods need the label disclosures, not a batch log.
Can I keep the records on my phone?
The law does not say where, only what. A spreadsheet or app works as long as the four entries exist per batch and you can produce them on demand. A dated paper backup is the cheap insurance against a dead battery on market day.
What if I use an approved recipe every time?
The records are still required. The approved recipe replaces the per-batch pH testing, but the batch number, the recipe used, its source and the date prepared all still go in the notebook for every batch.